Mail-bag catcher.



PATBNTED MAR. 6, 1906. P. D. SMILEY.

MAIL BAG CATGHERQ APPLIOATION FILED MAYIB, 190s Av (11mm? um"!!! rrimsmzy shown in Fig. 3.

FRANK DOUGLAS SMILEY, OF ITHACA, NEW YORK.

MAIL-BAG CATCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented I1Iarch 6, 1906.

Application filed May 16,1905- Serial No. 260,656.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK DOUGLAS SMI- LEY, a citizen of the United States, residing at lthaca, in the county of Tompkins and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Mail-Bag Catcher, of which the following is a specification.

This invention is an improved construction of mail-bag catcher, adapted to be used upon a railway mail-car for the purpose of catching the mail-bag held upon a crane; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of such construction that the bag will be caught without injury thereto and brought into easy reach of the postal clerk.

With these and certain other objects in view, as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement, all of which will be fully described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a view showing the practical application of my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view showing the position of the parts assumed after the bag has been caught. Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the device opened or ready to receive the mail-bag. Fig. 4 is a detail plan view of the gripping-arms in their closed position. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional elevation. Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 5. Figs. 7 and 8 are detail perspective views showing the pivotal ends of the gripping-arms.

In carrying out my invention I employ a bar A, which is fastened to one side of the door-frame of a railway mail-car and is made in two sections A and A connected by a hinge B, and each section is provided with an upwardly-extending leg C, to which is attached the coil-spring D, the purpose of said spring being to hold the sections in a straight and opened position when the device is set to catch the mail-bag, the spring being upon the side opposite the hinge, as most clearly The outer end of the section A has two gripping-arms E and F, pivotally connected thereto by means of a bolt G passing through the apertured ends of the arms and securely fastened to the outer end of the section A of the bar A. The pivotal ends of the arms E and F are flattened, as shown at E and F in Figs. 7 and 8, and the arm E is provided with an upwardly-projecting finger E the purpose of which will be we plained later. A helical spring H surrounds the upper end of the pivotal bolt or post G, the upper end of said spring being fastened to.said post or bolt, and the lower end bears upon the gripping-arm F adjacent the pivotal end thereof, the purpose of said'spring being to throw the said gripping-arm F into contact with the mail-bag for the purpose of grasping the same, as most clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. A spring-keeper I is fastened to the section A adjacent its outer end, said keeper being adapted to engage and hold the gripping-arm F in the opened position shown in Fig. 3, the spring force of said keeper being suflicient to hold the arm open against the tension of the spring H.

The upwardly-projecting finger E contacts with the rear side of the gripping-arm F between the end of the spring H and the spring-keeper I, and when the arm E contacts with the mail-bag held on the crane the force of the blow causes the finger E to throw the gripping-arm F out of engagement with the spring-keeper I, and the spring H then acting upon the gripping-arm F throws it to the position shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the mail-bag will be held securely between the gripping-arms At the same time that the gripping operation takes place the force of the contact will cause the section A to swing around upon its hinge, and as soon as it passes beyond a certain point the spring D will operate to bring the two sections into a folded position, (shown in Fig. 2,) and the postal clerk or operator can then easily remove-the mail-bag from catcher. After the bag has been removed the arms are then separated or opened to the position shown in Fig. 3 and the section A turned back so that the catcher will be readyfor another operation.

It will thus be seen that I provide a simple and eflicientconstruction of mail-bag catcher which will grasp the mail-bag and transfer the same within easy reach of the operator, and all without danger to the said bag or crane.

' Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A mail-bag catcher comprising a sectional, hinged bar having a pair of spring-actuated gripping-arms mounted upon the outer end of one section, means for holding the said arms in an opened position together with means for closing and releasing said arms as set forth.

2. A mail-bag catcher comprising a bar having a pair of gripping-arms pivotally connected to the outer end thereof, a spring for normally throwing said arms into closed position, a keeper adapted to be engaged by one of said arms, the other arm provided With a finger adapted to operate upon the other arm and release the same from the keeper, as set forth.

3. A mail-bag catcher comprising a bar made in two sections hinged together, the coil-spring attached to the said sectional bar upon the side opposite the hinge, the gripping-arms pivotally connected to the outer end of the outer section, the outer arm having an upwardly-projecting finger adjacent its pivotal end-a spring-keeper carried by the outer section of the arm and adapted to be engaged by the inner gripping-arm, and a helical spring adapted to bear upon one end of the inner arm, as and for the purpose set forth.

FRANK DOUGLAS SMILEY. Witnesses:

C. B. SEAMAN, RALPH S. KENT. 

